Brussels Next

Jam packed into a Continental plane for five hours should have been a piece of cake with the Direct TV monitor in front of me. I watched Sherlock Homes and Sports Center for the entire flight. I found out that traveling with Andria is much more fun. I miss her already! I have a three hour lay over and found some free wifi internet so I am happy. Eating McDonalds here at the Newark airport is almost a religious experience as I figure this may be my last "fast food" meal. Here is to chemicals and tasty marketing!! I need to go find a pay phone and call Andria. She will be leaving at the end of May with a team of nine from our church. I am sure time will fly but it was hard to say good bye.

I found out that I get very anxious when it comes to such major change. I was in kind of a "zone" for the past two days. I felt like I was a spectator watching my life. Andria was SO incredible and understanding. I always knew that I struggled with anxiety issues but this past two days were a new level of stress that I hadn't experienced. Thanks for everyone's prayers and support. It is good to know that God helps us through everything in spite of our selves!! lol

Andria brought me to the airport this morning. I checked four pieces of luggage. I found out that all were too big by a few inches. The Continental employee began asking us about where we were going...as we shared about Urukundo her entire countenance and demeanor changed. She complimented and thanked us for our willing to go work at an orphanage. She gave us a little break on the price of our checked luggage. It is amazing how a conversation can go from "business" to "God's mission" in a heart beat! We gave her one of our brochures that explains what we are doing. Very humbling to be used by God.

Packed and Ready

We are out of the house! Andria and I are staying with the Reddy's tonight. We are having a celebration meal at the Reddy's of some good Iowa corn fed beef!! The house looks to strange with nothing in it. I had the house built in 1993 so there are some good memories there. I hope that someone will enjoy it as much as we did.

Andria will stay with her parents until she leaves for Rwanda on May 31st. The team of nine from New Covenant: Kirsten Garber, Sue and Katie Anders, Mari Hanchar, Jordan Monical, Sierra and Cortlan Miller, Peter Kruse and Jocelyn Zink -- will travel with Andria and stay at Urukundo for a couple of weeks. It is a great way to start our new adventure in Rwanda.

I (Todd) leave tomorrow at 7:10am. I fly to Newark (5 hours) then to Brussels (9 hours) and finally to Kigali (9 hours). I arrive some 31 hours after leaving Phoenix! I am hoping for spacious seating and lots of movie viewing.

New Baby Arrives

Urukundo is in desperate need of a new nursery because of all the babies being brought. No other Home for Children accepts babies in the District. (the total cost would be around $15,000 to add a nursery on to the existing girl's dorm). Here is the story of our latest arrival:

A 2 week old baby boy is coming this afternoon. His mother died after giving birth. I do not know if he has a name. We are excited for our new family member.
He is here.
This tiny 2 week old baby arrived today.
His story is sad.
His mother gave birth at the hospital but with no money she could not stay there and so was discharged shortly after the birth to return to her village. The village is far out in the hills and a motor bike was the cheapest mode of transportation. The roads are one big rut after another. She got on the bike with her new born son in her arms and started for home.
The ride was rough and she did not heal well after the birth and so started to hemorrhage severely. The ride was over an hour and her life's blood was draining from her body. I am told she died on the way home still clutching her baby boy in her arms.
When the driver realized she was in trouble it was too latethere was nothing he could do. Arlene

New Address for Giving

New address for anyone wanting to directly support Andria and I with donations: make checks payable to New Covenant Lutheran Church 15152 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. Scottsdale, AZ 85260 (add Urukundo Home for Children in memo line) or online donations www.parishpay.com search for New Covenant Lutheran and check box for "Urukundo Home". ....either way your gifts are tax deductible and will be used for our travel & living expenses. By giving through our church we can better manage our money.

You can also still give at www.hopemadereal.org to support the orphans.

Interview

Check out the interview from Sunday: http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?v=xydzu2ig&catid=15534

Rwanda Connections Everywhere

On Monday I met Grace Miller (Hugh Duke introduced me to her). She works at Desert Gold Exchange but use to travel around Africa as an evangelist. We had an incredible connection as we shared. We prayed together that we would follow Jesus. Today I met Wil Berry, the director of The Scottsdale School. He sponsors a pastor from Rwanda who also just "happened" to be in town. So I met both Will and Jacob. Jacob trains pastors in Rwanda. He has a five day training seminar through Harvest Ministries. We exchanged contact information. Jacob will head back to Kigali May 1st. On Sunday we will go to North Phoenix Baptist Church where Andria grew up. Pastor Dan will interview us and have some of our friends stand beside us as they pray for our ministry in Rwanda. God is doing so many incredible things. I feel like I am on the greatest adventure of our life. It's like the roller coaster at Belmont Park in San Diego. It's a great ride but also a little scary!